


Five Lives (of Stiles Stilinski, Hedge Wizard)

by daleked



Category: Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: ARGENTS FIT WELL INTO CHRESTOMANCI VERSE, BECAUSE CHRISTOPHER'S MUM WAS AN ARGENT REMEMBER, GEE LOOK ANOTHER AU, Multi, magic!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-20
Updated: 2012-11-20
Packaged: 2017-11-19 03:17:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daleked/pseuds/daleked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles and Scott in Chrestomanci 'verse! Features grumpy gardener!Derek!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Lives (of Stiles Stilinski, Hedge Wizard)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mimbleful](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimbleful/gifts).



> MIMBLES THIS IS FOR YOU AN UNFINISHED PIECE SET IN THE SAME VERSE AS OUR HMC AU BUT LIKE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD, AMIRITE

 

Stiles has never had the talent that Lydia has at magic. Yeah, sure he can do rudimentary magic, but that's... That's nothing, really. Him and Scott are just servants at the Argent estate, and they don't need magic that much. To be fair, Stiles is the kitchen boy while Scott takes care of the hunting dogs and horses, and there's not much magic to be done on bread and soup. Scott has a giant crush on Allison, Lord Argent's firstborn, and is reduced to being dewy-eyed everything time she passes by the stables.

"This is silly, you know," Lydia tells Stiles. She's the daughter of the head butler and spends most her time hobnobbing around with Allison, practicing proper magic. They're both Advanced users, and Lydia sometimes jokingly calls Stiles a hedge-wizard. It hurts, yeah, but there's nothing he can do about it. She's right. Nobody's considered a proper wizard unless they've got Graded Papers and things like that.

"Everyone should have a proper magic education if they've got the talent for it. If you ask me, Chrestomanci should do something about that, him being the government and all." Stiles is kneading the dough, and pauses to frown. 

"Aren't the Argents related to Chrestomanci?" Lydia laughs, picking up a strawberry and popping it in her mouth.

"No, sweetie. That was the previous Chrestomanci. This one's pure Chant." They sit in silence and Stiles leaves the dough to rise in a pan as Lydia fluffs up her hair in a mirror she conjured. Lydia's signature is snapping her fingers- she can't perform magic without it. Inconvenient, but flashy. Stiles envies her.

"Anyway," Lydia says finally. "Prepare an extra serving for the servants. We're getting a new groundskeeper tonight."

+

The new Groundskeeper is quiet. He arrives that evening and immediately heads for the hut a few metres away from the kitchen without speaking to anyone. Finstock, the head chef, tried to talk him into taking part in Saturday's cricket match on the green, but the Groundskeeper shakes his head slowly and shuts the door. Stiles catches movement behind the semi-opaque windows, as he knocks at the door and calls out.

"Your dinner, um, here." The door opens and Stiles finds himself looking at someone who looks right out of one of those wizard wrestling magazines that Lord Whittemore reads. The thing about wizard wrestling is that it requires the user to have a great deal of strength, being a physical magic, and this guy looks like he could be a contender. 

"There's just dumplings in beef stew, and spaghetti and some toast, um-" Stiles thrusts the tray at him and the Groundskeeper takes it, lifting the lid to peek at the food

"Thanks," the Groundskeeper replies. "You're the kitchen boy."

"Stiles, actually, my name is Stiles," he corrects. "You?" 

"Derek Hale," the Groundskeeper says, and turns around go in back in. He shuts the door gently and Stiles walks away with his heart pounding.

Damn. 

+

Derek Hale is a competent magic user. Stiles realises this when the borders of the garden sprout rosebushes, carefully demarcating lawns and paths and a scenic route for the baker's boy Isaac to cycle down. Then the oak trees start flourishing, and the rhododendrons, and then the horse-chestnut. Scott is especially excited about the last one, and gazes wistfully at the trees.

"Conker championships!" Scott says excitedly to Stiles. "D'you think Derek will ripen them ahead of time if we ask him nicely?"

"Dude," Stiles says. "The flowers aren't even out yet."

+

Lord Argent is carefully polite to Derek when he comes down for the usual Friday afternoon inspection. He praises the herb patch and vegetable garden before going back upstairs, robes swirling around him. Derek lightens up slightly and consents to join Stiles and Scott for a quick snack, crunching chicken bones and sucking out the marrow under Chef Finstock's watchful eye.

"Lord Argent knew my family," Derek explains quietly, and that's all he'll say on the subject. It's the first time Stiles has heard Derek talk about anything other than vegetation, and asks if Derek's going to visit his family on Sunday. The servants have Sundays off, so Scott and Stiles make the three-hour journey back to Beacon Hills to visit their parents. The good mood dissipates and Derek stands up, throwing the chicken bones away.

"They're dead," Derek says shortly, and leaves.

"Smooth, bro," Scott comments morosely. Stiles elbows his best friend and gazes down the short stretch of rough path leading down to the Groundskeeper's hut, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to know what you thought of this.


End file.
